The Nautilus. 



Vol-. XXV. AUGUST, 1911. No. 3 



COBEESPONDENCE FEOM BRAZIL. 



BY FRED. BAKER. 



Natal, Brazil, May 30, 1911. 



As I have a chance to get letters away to-morrow, and as I have 

 a little breathing spell this afternoon, I will give you an idea what 

 we have been doing since reaching Brazil. 



Unfortunately, we lost much time in Ceari waiting for the way 

 steamer to bring us to this smaller port, and as the vessel was ex- 

 pected from day to day we did not unpack our outfit, so our work 

 was not carefully done. 



The authorities have been most considerate, admitting our things 

 without duties, and in every way facilitating our work. At Ceard 

 we were taken in a special train to Quixada — 164 kilometers — 

 where the largest dam in Brazil is located. It is a surprise to all of 

 our party who are new to the country to find that the States of Ceara 

 and Rio Grande do Norte, making up the northeastern portion of 

 Brazil, have a climate about as dry as that of Southern California 

 and not very unlike it in many other respects. Nowhere did we 

 see the luxuriant tropical vegetation which we were accustomed to 

 in Mexico and Central America. The whole coast is a line of sand 

 dunes, constantly shifting, varied by an underlying sand rock in 

 places, and as far as we went the timber is all small. 



The dam at Quixada is an enormous affair, and owing to the 

 scanty rainfall of the district and the limited watershed, which prob- 

 ably was never carefully estimated, it is much larger than is needed 

 and has never entirely filled. 



